The Arkansas Department of Correction has started on Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s $33 million plan to address prison overcrowding in the state. While the plan does not involve building a new prison, it does involve adding prison beds, hiring new parole and probation officers, and investing in re-entry and alternative sentencing programs.

Utah lawmakers and correctional leaders held a hearing on June 16 to discuss four potential sites for the state’s new correctional facility.
This latest hearing follows three informational meetings held over May and early June in Salt Lake City, Grantsville and the Eagle Mountain/Fairfield area, all of which are potential sites for the soon-to-be-relocated state prison.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 26 for the new Macon County Courthouse and Jail project. During the ceremony, three county commissioners took turns discussing the courthouse jail project, which they began planning several years ago.

A proposed $32 million expansion of the DeKalb County Jail in Sycamore reached a significant milestone in May when the county’s Jail Solution Committee announced it was preparing a list of funding recommendations.

Construction broke ground on the combined jail for Burleigh and Morton counties to be built in southeast Bismarck, and it is slated for completion in January 2017.
Locally based UBL Design Group, in cooperation with New York-based Venture Architects, revealed plans for the new 476-bed facility last year. Locally based Comstock Construction is serving as the main contractor on the project.